Willie Nelson is on the road with businessman Peter Bell, truck stop owner Carl Cornelius and financier Monk White, who have all come together to promote the use of their own brand of farmer-supported, earth-friendly biodiesel fuel. The Willie Nelson Biodiesel Co. is target marketing BioWillie diesel—its own B20 blend—to truckers, the largest group of diesel consumers in the country.
For 20 years, Willie Nelson has been one of the most recognizable advocates in support of the American farmers. As founder and president of Farm Aid, Nelson has been involved in spotlighting the plight of the increasingly marginalized family farm, holding benefit concerts and raising funds to help sustain a quickly changing way of life. Now, the legendary singer has a whole new approach to promoting American farm life, marketing “farm fresh” BioWillie biodiesel fuel to truck stops, where the potential for high-volume sales to diesel-rig driving truckers is complimented with expanded markets for farmers, cleaner burning fuel for truckers, and solace for both environmentalists and proponents of U.S. energy independence.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Monday, February 27, 2006
Biodiesel on Staten Island
UMR Energy Systems
14 Van Street
Staten Island, NY 10310
Daniel France
718-720-6646
B20-B100
14 Van Street
Staten Island, NY 10310
Daniel France
718-720-6646
B20-B100
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Morgan Freeman uses oil for more than french fries!
Mr. Morgan Freeman said, “I am pleased to accept the invitation to serve on the Earth Biofuels Board of Directors. I firmly believe that alternative fuel supplies need to be developed to allow the United States to wean itself off of its significant dependence on foreign oil. Moreover, I feel that our development of alternative sources such as biodiesel fuel will help the environment, farmers, and the economy in general. I look forward to participating in the growth of this company as well as the alternative fuels industry.”
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Oregon State University working on chemical reactor for biodiesel
"If we're successful with this, nobody will ever make biodiesel any other way," said Goran Jovanovic, the OSU professor who developed the biodiesel microreactor.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Trucker love Biodiesel
Seems truckers all around the country are loving biodiesel in thier rigs. Biodiesel produces less smoke. Less smoke is not only better for the trucker, it's better for everyone else too. Biodiesel smells better. Some people say it smells like popcorn. Biodiesel puts American farmer to work and cuts down on forgien oil dependancy. Biodiesel cleans out thier engines, many trucker say they run better on Biodiesel. Biodiesel has less harmful effects on people than petroleum dielel. One of the most amazing things about Biodiesel is people are making it themselves for far less than petroleum diesel costs to buy.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Sweden aims to be oil-free by 2020
http://www.mobilemag.com/content/100/354/C6563/
Sweden has set a goal – completely oil-free by 2020. This includes not just cars and trucks, but everything from power to heat. Under the plan, oil and gas for vehicles will be replaced by ethanol and biodiesel. The government is working with Saab and Volvo to develop vehicles that will help to meet this goal. They are the first Western country to make this move, though Iceland and Brazil have made similar goals on their own timeframes.
Sweden has a good start on this goal already. Only 32% of their energy comes from oil, which is down from 77% in 1970. Most of their electricity is nuclear or hydroelectric, while their heat is largely through geothermal energy or waste heat.
Sweden’s ambitious move will have a strong impact throughout the world. Volvo and Saab will work on the challenge in Sweden, but can then export their technological advances to their markets throughout the world.
Sweden has set a goal – completely oil-free by 2020. This includes not just cars and trucks, but everything from power to heat. Under the plan, oil and gas for vehicles will be replaced by ethanol and biodiesel. The government is working with Saab and Volvo to develop vehicles that will help to meet this goal. They are the first Western country to make this move, though Iceland and Brazil have made similar goals on their own timeframes.
Sweden has a good start on this goal already. Only 32% of their energy comes from oil, which is down from 77% in 1970. Most of their electricity is nuclear or hydroelectric, while their heat is largely through geothermal energy or waste heat.
Sweden’s ambitious move will have a strong impact throughout the world. Volvo and Saab will work on the challenge in Sweden, but can then export their technological advances to their markets throughout the world.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Rising prices spark interest in Biodiesel
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/7549534/
Environmental Alternatives, a Staten Island based company, produces biodiesel, an environmentally friendly fuel manufactured from various vegetable oils that can be used in any diesel engine or generator.
In a small building in an industrial section of Staten Island, N.Y., in the shadow of New Jersey’s massive complex of oil refineries, Marty Baruso is working on the frontier of helping motorists cope with relentlessly rising fuel prices.
Baruso, an industrial chemist, originally got into the energy business setting up off-the-grid generators for businesses looking to beat New York city power prices of as much as 20 cents a kilowatt hour, among highest in the nation. To run those generators, he set up a few vats to brew biodiesel, a renewable fuel made from vegetable oil. Aside from being renewable, biodiesel has other things going for it: it produces no sulfur or soot when burned.
A year ago, his biodiesel plant was running at less than its 15,000-gallon-a-day capacity, largely due to distribution roadblocks. To sell his fuel to customers, he had to first find an oil dealer who would blend his product with conventional diesel.
But with the price of oil approaching $70 a barrel, Baruso’s fortunes have changed. He’s selling all the biodiesel he can make. He's about to close on a new facility in Brooklyn that will produce 8 million gallons of fuel a month. Now, the oil dealers are coming to him.
“We made our first sale this past two week to heating oil companies that are using it to blend with (oil-based heating oil),” he said. “We’re cheaper than petroleum.”
Story continues below ↓ advertisement
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With oil refineries running at 95 percent capacity and pump prices soaring, businesses and consumers alike are scrambling for alternatives. Today, biofuels -- gasoline and diesel made from a variety of crops -- are the only non-petroleum energy source ready to pump into the empty tanks of the hundreds of millions of cars and light trucks on the road worldwide.
As old as fire
Biomass, a wide energy category that includes everything from wood to garbage to fuels brewed from plants, is often touted as an energy source of the future. But plant-based energy sources have been used for millennia -- ever since man first figured out how to start a fire to keep warm and cook dinner. In the U.S., wood was the primary energy source until after the Civil War, when coal became an '"alternative" fuel for heating and transportation.
When the first diesel engines came along at the end of the 19th century, they were originally designed to run on vegetable oil. But as petroleum (the alternative fuel at the time) began replacing increasingly scarce whale oil for lighting, oil soon proved to be too cheap, too convenient and too plentiful for other transportation fuels to compete with.
Now, the relentless rise in oil prices has sparked new demand for biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. But it’s not clear how big a role biofuels will play in replacing petroleum oil over the long-term.
Proponents of biofuels argue that they are the best, readily-available, renewable substitute for gasoline and conventional diesel. By increasing demand for feedstocks like corn and soybeans, biofuel production also helps create new markets for American farmers.
One of biofuel's strongest proponents is Amory Lovins, chief executive officer of Rocky Mountain Institute, a think tank that has assembled a detailed plan, Winning the Oil Endgame, to wean the U.S. from oil. Combined with increased efficiency — in everything from vehicles to power plants — Lovins' roadmap for energy independence includes a boost in ethanol production to cover 25 percent of fuel consumption, relying on wood and other waste cellulose to expand output of biofuels.
‘You would get the country completely off oil, revitalize the industrial and agricultural economies and save about $70 billion a year net.’
— Amory Lovins
CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute
“You would get the country completely off oil, revitalize the industrial and agricultural economies and save about $70 billion a year net,” said Lovins.
But opponents argue that ethanol and biodiesel can now compete with gasoline and diesel at the pump only because they are heavily subsidized with tax dollars. Federal subsidies and tax breaks amount to as much as $1 a gallon for biodiesel and 51 cents a gallon for ethanol. Some states provide additional incentives.
“We’re a ripple on an ocean of oil,” Baruso said of biofuel makers.
But in a few countries, aggressive promotion of biofuels have begun to pay dividends. In Brazil, the world's leading producer of ethanol, about a third of the fuel used by cars and trucks is ethanol made form sugar cane. The government continues to promote expansion of production, and now exports 500 million gallons a year to a dozen countries, including the U.S.
The advantages of biofuels are fairly straightforward: As a renewable resource, fuel produced from crops like soybeans could help ease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. With the largest output of oil-producing crops in the world, the U.S. is well suited to make fuels from biomass.
Biofuel is also the only renewable out there that’s ready to go as a substitute for the liquid fuels that power the vast majority of internal combustion engines on the road today. One of the reasons gasoline and diesel have proven so difficult to replace is that they are hard to beat as transportation fuels. They're extremely energy-dense liquids, stable at normal temperature and pressure, and relatively safe to transport and dispense at filling stations.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement
That’s why, proponents argue, biofuel could potentially have the biggest and most immediate impact on U.S. reliance on foreign oil. Other energy alternatives — like wind, solar, nuclear, or even cleaner-burning coal — are primarily used to make electricity. Until electric drive train vehicles become commonplace, these power sources will replace little of the oil consumed in the U.S.
Like making moonshine
The biggest source of biofuel by far is ethanol — a liquid distilled from corn or other starchy crops. While various feedstocks and methods are used, the basic process relies on fermentation to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide — not unlike the making of moonshine. (Biodiesel uses a somewhat different process: Vegetable oil or animal fat is combined in large vats with a catalyst such as methanol; the mixture is then heated and a glycerin byproduct is removed, leaving behind the fuel.)
Demand for ethanol got a big boost over the past five years as an additive for so-called reformulated gasoline blends used to cut air pollution in the summer months. Much of that demand comes as refiners have phased out MTBE, a widely-used additive that has been banned in many states after it was found to have contaminated water supplies.
Though most ethanol and biodiesel is blended with gasoline and diesel, some newer-model vehicles can burn pure biofuel with only minor modifications. But pure biodiesel does have some performance drawbacks, according to a Department of Energy Report published last year, including lower fuel economy than conventional diesel, operating problems in cold weather, and increased emissions of nitrous oxide. Pure biodiesel can also break down some engine parts, like rubber tubes and gaskets. (That's one reason it's mixed with conventional diesel.)
The most contentious issue surrounding biofuels is whether they, in fact, save oil. One of the leading critics of government subsidies for biofuels, Cornell University professor David Pimentel, recently published research showing that it takes 29 percent more fossil fuel energy to produce ethanol from corn than the energy it replaces. Biodiesel made from soybeans didn't do much better -- requiring 27 percent more fossil energy than the resulting fuel produced.
Critics of Pimentel's work point to other studies showing biofuel's energy benefits. Pimentel counters that those studies don't take into account all the fossil fuel energy needed to make biofuels.
Nonetheless, biofuels have enjoyed widespread support in Congress, owing to the wide-ranging political clout of the farm states that benefit from increased demand for corn and soybeans. Though most of the tax breaks and subsidies in the $14.5 billion Energy Policy Act of 2005 went to oil and gas producers, farmers and biofuel makers won support for generous biofuel subsidies, tax breaks, grants and loans.
The law also calls for more than doubling ethanol production by 2012 from last year's level of 3.4 billion gallons, which was more than double 2000 levels. To help boost production, the government expanded tax breaks for smaller ethanol producers, set aside grants to research new production techniques and provided grants and loan guarantees to expand production of ethanol from sugar cane in Hawaii, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
All of which will generate an estimated $70 billion in spending on goods and services required to produce ethanol over the next decade, along with $6 billion in new investment for expanded production capacity. Sales of corn, soybeans, and other crops for biofuels will total $43 billion over the next decade, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol industry trade group.
That's been good news for big U.S. agricultural companies, who lobbied heavily for the extension of biofuel subsides and tax breaks in this year's Energy Policy Act.
"Across the world and across the country, (with) a variety of different vegetable oils, these high energy costs of petroleum prices are driving a lot of interest in biodiesel as well as in ethanol," Archer Daniels Midland CEO Wayne Andreas told Wall Street analysts last month on a conference call to announce that profits had more than doubled to $1 billion in the latest fiscal year.
Environmental Alternatives, a Staten Island based company, produces biodiesel, an environmentally friendly fuel manufactured from various vegetable oils that can be used in any diesel engine or generator.
In a small building in an industrial section of Staten Island, N.Y., in the shadow of New Jersey’s massive complex of oil refineries, Marty Baruso is working on the frontier of helping motorists cope with relentlessly rising fuel prices.
Baruso, an industrial chemist, originally got into the energy business setting up off-the-grid generators for businesses looking to beat New York city power prices of as much as 20 cents a kilowatt hour, among highest in the nation. To run those generators, he set up a few vats to brew biodiesel, a renewable fuel made from vegetable oil. Aside from being renewable, biodiesel has other things going for it: it produces no sulfur or soot when burned.
A year ago, his biodiesel plant was running at less than its 15,000-gallon-a-day capacity, largely due to distribution roadblocks. To sell his fuel to customers, he had to first find an oil dealer who would blend his product with conventional diesel.
But with the price of oil approaching $70 a barrel, Baruso’s fortunes have changed. He’s selling all the biodiesel he can make. He's about to close on a new facility in Brooklyn that will produce 8 million gallons of fuel a month. Now, the oil dealers are coming to him.
“We made our first sale this past two week to heating oil companies that are using it to blend with (oil-based heating oil),” he said. “We’re cheaper than petroleum.”
Story continues below ↓ advertisement
Click Here
With oil refineries running at 95 percent capacity and pump prices soaring, businesses and consumers alike are scrambling for alternatives. Today, biofuels -- gasoline and diesel made from a variety of crops -- are the only non-petroleum energy source ready to pump into the empty tanks of the hundreds of millions of cars and light trucks on the road worldwide.
As old as fire
Biomass, a wide energy category that includes everything from wood to garbage to fuels brewed from plants, is often touted as an energy source of the future. But plant-based energy sources have been used for millennia -- ever since man first figured out how to start a fire to keep warm and cook dinner. In the U.S., wood was the primary energy source until after the Civil War, when coal became an '"alternative" fuel for heating and transportation.
When the first diesel engines came along at the end of the 19th century, they were originally designed to run on vegetable oil. But as petroleum (the alternative fuel at the time) began replacing increasingly scarce whale oil for lighting, oil soon proved to be too cheap, too convenient and too plentiful for other transportation fuels to compete with.
Now, the relentless rise in oil prices has sparked new demand for biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel. But it’s not clear how big a role biofuels will play in replacing petroleum oil over the long-term.
Proponents of biofuels argue that they are the best, readily-available, renewable substitute for gasoline and conventional diesel. By increasing demand for feedstocks like corn and soybeans, biofuel production also helps create new markets for American farmers.
One of biofuel's strongest proponents is Amory Lovins, chief executive officer of Rocky Mountain Institute, a think tank that has assembled a detailed plan, Winning the Oil Endgame, to wean the U.S. from oil. Combined with increased efficiency — in everything from vehicles to power plants — Lovins' roadmap for energy independence includes a boost in ethanol production to cover 25 percent of fuel consumption, relying on wood and other waste cellulose to expand output of biofuels.
‘You would get the country completely off oil, revitalize the industrial and agricultural economies and save about $70 billion a year net.’
— Amory Lovins
CEO, Rocky Mountain Institute
“You would get the country completely off oil, revitalize the industrial and agricultural economies and save about $70 billion a year net,” said Lovins.
But opponents argue that ethanol and biodiesel can now compete with gasoline and diesel at the pump only because they are heavily subsidized with tax dollars. Federal subsidies and tax breaks amount to as much as $1 a gallon for biodiesel and 51 cents a gallon for ethanol. Some states provide additional incentives.
“We’re a ripple on an ocean of oil,” Baruso said of biofuel makers.
But in a few countries, aggressive promotion of biofuels have begun to pay dividends. In Brazil, the world's leading producer of ethanol, about a third of the fuel used by cars and trucks is ethanol made form sugar cane. The government continues to promote expansion of production, and now exports 500 million gallons a year to a dozen countries, including the U.S.
The advantages of biofuels are fairly straightforward: As a renewable resource, fuel produced from crops like soybeans could help ease the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. With the largest output of oil-producing crops in the world, the U.S. is well suited to make fuels from biomass.
Biofuel is also the only renewable out there that’s ready to go as a substitute for the liquid fuels that power the vast majority of internal combustion engines on the road today. One of the reasons gasoline and diesel have proven so difficult to replace is that they are hard to beat as transportation fuels. They're extremely energy-dense liquids, stable at normal temperature and pressure, and relatively safe to transport and dispense at filling stations.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement
That’s why, proponents argue, biofuel could potentially have the biggest and most immediate impact on U.S. reliance on foreign oil. Other energy alternatives — like wind, solar, nuclear, or even cleaner-burning coal — are primarily used to make electricity. Until electric drive train vehicles become commonplace, these power sources will replace little of the oil consumed in the U.S.
Like making moonshine
The biggest source of biofuel by far is ethanol — a liquid distilled from corn or other starchy crops. While various feedstocks and methods are used, the basic process relies on fermentation to produce ethanol and carbon dioxide — not unlike the making of moonshine. (Biodiesel uses a somewhat different process: Vegetable oil or animal fat is combined in large vats with a catalyst such as methanol; the mixture is then heated and a glycerin byproduct is removed, leaving behind the fuel.)
Demand for ethanol got a big boost over the past five years as an additive for so-called reformulated gasoline blends used to cut air pollution in the summer months. Much of that demand comes as refiners have phased out MTBE, a widely-used additive that has been banned in many states after it was found to have contaminated water supplies.
Though most ethanol and biodiesel is blended with gasoline and diesel, some newer-model vehicles can burn pure biofuel with only minor modifications. But pure biodiesel does have some performance drawbacks, according to a Department of Energy Report published last year, including lower fuel economy than conventional diesel, operating problems in cold weather, and increased emissions of nitrous oxide. Pure biodiesel can also break down some engine parts, like rubber tubes and gaskets. (That's one reason it's mixed with conventional diesel.)
The most contentious issue surrounding biofuels is whether they, in fact, save oil. One of the leading critics of government subsidies for biofuels, Cornell University professor David Pimentel, recently published research showing that it takes 29 percent more fossil fuel energy to produce ethanol from corn than the energy it replaces. Biodiesel made from soybeans didn't do much better -- requiring 27 percent more fossil energy than the resulting fuel produced.
Critics of Pimentel's work point to other studies showing biofuel's energy benefits. Pimentel counters that those studies don't take into account all the fossil fuel energy needed to make biofuels.
Nonetheless, biofuels have enjoyed widespread support in Congress, owing to the wide-ranging political clout of the farm states that benefit from increased demand for corn and soybeans. Though most of the tax breaks and subsidies in the $14.5 billion Energy Policy Act of 2005 went to oil and gas producers, farmers and biofuel makers won support for generous biofuel subsidies, tax breaks, grants and loans.
The law also calls for more than doubling ethanol production by 2012 from last year's level of 3.4 billion gallons, which was more than double 2000 levels. To help boost production, the government expanded tax breaks for smaller ethanol producers, set aside grants to research new production techniques and provided grants and loan guarantees to expand production of ethanol from sugar cane in Hawaii, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.
All of which will generate an estimated $70 billion in spending on goods and services required to produce ethanol over the next decade, along with $6 billion in new investment for expanded production capacity. Sales of corn, soybeans, and other crops for biofuels will total $43 billion over the next decade, according to the Renewable Fuels Association, an ethanol industry trade group.
That's been good news for big U.S. agricultural companies, who lobbied heavily for the extension of biofuel subsides and tax breaks in this year's Energy Policy Act.
"Across the world and across the country, (with) a variety of different vegetable oils, these high energy costs of petroleum prices are driving a lot of interest in biodiesel as well as in ethanol," Archer Daniels Midland CEO Wayne Andreas told Wall Street analysts last month on a conference call to announce that profits had more than doubled to $1 billion in the latest fiscal year.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Bio-diesel is America's fastest growing alternative fuel
According to the US Department of Energy. US sales of bio-diesel tripled last year to 284 million litres but account for less than 1 per cent of the diesel fuel sold nationwide, said Jenna Higgins, a spokeswoman for the National Bio-diesel Board, which is hosting a conference on bio-diesel in San Diego.
More than 600 service stations in America sell bio-diesel to the public.
Willie Nelson first learned about bio-diesel three years ago when his wife, Annie, bought a bio-diesel-burning car in Hawaii. The bio-diesel that powered her Volkswagen Jetta was made from grease collected from restaurants.
More than 600 service stations in America sell bio-diesel to the public.
Willie Nelson first learned about bio-diesel three years ago when his wife, Annie, bought a bio-diesel-burning car in Hawaii. The bio-diesel that powered her Volkswagen Jetta was made from grease collected from restaurants.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
More people using Biodiesel
The oil that cooked yesterday’s onion rings could be the same oil being used to fuel diesel trucks that haul the onions to the burger joint.
About five years ago people said Bill Webster was crazy for suggesting that soybean oil could be a viable alternative to diesel fuel.
Webster, co-manager of Earth Biofuels’ Meridian plant, said: “It’s not that way anymore. Now, every drop we produce is sold. Our production is up to about 3,000 gallons a day.”
Longtime alternative fuels advocate and country music artist Willie Nelson has been appointed to the board of directors of Earth Biofuels Inc. of Jackson. Webster said native Mississippian and actor Morgan Freeman is also on the board.
“I am excited about getting involved with Earth Biofuels. We share the same goals in advancing the biodiesel industry,” Nelson said in a news release.
A year-and-a-half ago, Webster, the area’s biodiesel pioneer, couldn’t give the fuel away. But the former auto mechanic knew it was only a matter of time.
“You wait two years until crude oil goes above $40 a barrel,” he told naysayers. “Then I’ll be able to compete.”
The price of crude oil surpassed the $40 mark in January; by early July it weighed in at more that $61 per barrel.
The company collects used cooking oil from area restaurants at the rate of 1,200 gallons to 1,500 gallons per month. Restaurants that would normally pay a rendering company to haul discarded oil away are saving that money when Webster includes them in his process.
“I collect oil from places like Backyard Burgers, Catfish Plus and Seafood & Chicken Express,” Webster said. “We get one gallon of biodiesel for every gallon of discarded cooking oil we collect.”
The Mississippi Development Authority’s Energy Division provided a grant to the Lauderdale County School District in 2003. Susan McKee, purchasing agent for the county schools, said West Lauderdale Elementary school buses are being used in a pilot program.
“For every dollar we spend on biodiesel, we get a dollar from the grant agreement,” McKee said. “So far the fuel is working fine. We haven’t had any problems.”
Roger Wright, transportation director for the Lauderdale County School District, said West Lauderdale Elementary School has a fleet of nine buses, all of which use the soy-based biodiesel.
“This is the third year we’ve used the fuel,” he said. “We use a 10 percent blend with regular diesel. For every 3,000 gallons of regular diesel, we add 300 gallons of biodiesel.”
Wright said there has been no reduction in power, and the buses’ fuel filters are showing no problems whatsoever.
“As the prices go down on regular diesel, the cost of biodiesel could become prohibitive,” Wright said. “But widespread usage would be a real boon for the soybean farmers.”
Webster said soybean farmers from the Delta are some of the company’s best clients.
“The same soybeans they produce are now fueling the tractors they use to plant and harvest the crop,” he said.
Webster said the federal government gives rebates to oil distributors who use the biodiesel.
“They get a dollar back for every gallon they buy,” he said. “Anyone can buy the biodiesel, but you have to be a distributor to qualify for the rebates.”
About five years ago people said Bill Webster was crazy for suggesting that soybean oil could be a viable alternative to diesel fuel.
Webster, co-manager of Earth Biofuels’ Meridian plant, said: “It’s not that way anymore. Now, every drop we produce is sold. Our production is up to about 3,000 gallons a day.”
Longtime alternative fuels advocate and country music artist Willie Nelson has been appointed to the board of directors of Earth Biofuels Inc. of Jackson. Webster said native Mississippian and actor Morgan Freeman is also on the board.
“I am excited about getting involved with Earth Biofuels. We share the same goals in advancing the biodiesel industry,” Nelson said in a news release.
A year-and-a-half ago, Webster, the area’s biodiesel pioneer, couldn’t give the fuel away. But the former auto mechanic knew it was only a matter of time.
“You wait two years until crude oil goes above $40 a barrel,” he told naysayers. “Then I’ll be able to compete.”
The price of crude oil surpassed the $40 mark in January; by early July it weighed in at more that $61 per barrel.
The company collects used cooking oil from area restaurants at the rate of 1,200 gallons to 1,500 gallons per month. Restaurants that would normally pay a rendering company to haul discarded oil away are saving that money when Webster includes them in his process.
“I collect oil from places like Backyard Burgers, Catfish Plus and Seafood & Chicken Express,” Webster said. “We get one gallon of biodiesel for every gallon of discarded cooking oil we collect.”
The Mississippi Development Authority’s Energy Division provided a grant to the Lauderdale County School District in 2003. Susan McKee, purchasing agent for the county schools, said West Lauderdale Elementary school buses are being used in a pilot program.
“For every dollar we spend on biodiesel, we get a dollar from the grant agreement,” McKee said. “So far the fuel is working fine. We haven’t had any problems.”
Roger Wright, transportation director for the Lauderdale County School District, said West Lauderdale Elementary School has a fleet of nine buses, all of which use the soy-based biodiesel.
“This is the third year we’ve used the fuel,” he said. “We use a 10 percent blend with regular diesel. For every 3,000 gallons of regular diesel, we add 300 gallons of biodiesel.”
Wright said there has been no reduction in power, and the buses’ fuel filters are showing no problems whatsoever.
“As the prices go down on regular diesel, the cost of biodiesel could become prohibitive,” Wright said. “But widespread usage would be a real boon for the soybean farmers.”
Webster said soybean farmers from the Delta are some of the company’s best clients.
“The same soybeans they produce are now fueling the tractors they use to plant and harvest the crop,” he said.
Webster said the federal government gives rebates to oil distributors who use the biodiesel.
“They get a dollar back for every gallon they buy,” he said. “Anyone can buy the biodiesel, but you have to be a distributor to qualify for the rebates.”
Monday, February 13, 2006
Willie gone bio
On the road again singer Willie Nelson unvieled "BioWillie," his brand of clean-burning fuel made from soybean oil.
BioWillie went on sale at an alternative fuel station in San Diego where the 72-year-old Texan drew a crowd as he filled his tour bus from a pump emblazoned with a picture of himself strumming a guitar.
Biodiesel is also enjoying a kind of folk movement. People all across the world are making the stuff themselves at home.
"It is the future," Nelson said. "Through biodiesel, we can reduce dependency on foreign oil and adopt an energy source that's clean renewable and helps family farmers find new uses for their products."
Actress Darryl Hannah, who drives a biodiesel-powered black Chevrolet El Camino, joined the singer at Pearson Ford Fuel Depot, where drivers can also fill 'em up on propane, ethanol and natural gas.
Biodiesel is America's fastest growing alternative fuel, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. U.S. sales of biodiesel tripled last year to 75 million gallons, but account for less than 1 percent of the diesel fuel sold nationwide, said Jenna Higgins, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board, which is hosting a conference on biodiesel in San Diego. More than 600 filling stations sell biodiesel to the public.
Nelson first learned about biodiesel three years ago when his wife, Annie, purchased a biodiesel-burning car in Hawaii, where the star has a home. The biodiesel that powered her Volkswagen Jetta was made from grease collected from restaurants. He bought a diesel Mercedes and then began filling his tour buses with biodiesel.
After filling up the singer's bus in Dallas in December 2004, biodiesel supplier Peter Bell convinced Nelson to go into business and lend his name and image to help the little known fuel gain wider acceptance. But Bell said he has been surprised to see the singer devoting much of his time to the cause.
"He shows up at a gas station," Bell said, glancing at the crowd surrounding the singer. "He believes in it 100 percent."
The BioWillie brand, known as B20 is a blend of 80 percent petroleum diesel and 20 percent biodiesel, made from soybean oil, which Nelson stressed was produced by American farmers. Nelson organized Farm Aid two decades ago to draw attention to the plight of the family farm.
In addition to California, BioWillie is now sold in Texas, South Carolina and Georgia and is distributed through Oklahoma City-based Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores. The partnership Nelson formed with Bell and three others, Biodiesel Venture GP, LLC, was acquired in November by Texas-based Earth Biofuels.
Earth Biofuels is a publicly traded company OTCBB:EBOF
BioWillie went on sale at an alternative fuel station in San Diego where the 72-year-old Texan drew a crowd as he filled his tour bus from a pump emblazoned with a picture of himself strumming a guitar.
Biodiesel is also enjoying a kind of folk movement. People all across the world are making the stuff themselves at home.
"It is the future," Nelson said. "Through biodiesel, we can reduce dependency on foreign oil and adopt an energy source that's clean renewable and helps family farmers find new uses for their products."
Actress Darryl Hannah, who drives a biodiesel-powered black Chevrolet El Camino, joined the singer at Pearson Ford Fuel Depot, where drivers can also fill 'em up on propane, ethanol and natural gas.
Biodiesel is America's fastest growing alternative fuel, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. U.S. sales of biodiesel tripled last year to 75 million gallons, but account for less than 1 percent of the diesel fuel sold nationwide, said Jenna Higgins, a spokeswoman for the National Biodiesel Board, which is hosting a conference on biodiesel in San Diego. More than 600 filling stations sell biodiesel to the public.
Nelson first learned about biodiesel three years ago when his wife, Annie, purchased a biodiesel-burning car in Hawaii, where the star has a home. The biodiesel that powered her Volkswagen Jetta was made from grease collected from restaurants. He bought a diesel Mercedes and then began filling his tour buses with biodiesel.
After filling up the singer's bus in Dallas in December 2004, biodiesel supplier Peter Bell convinced Nelson to go into business and lend his name and image to help the little known fuel gain wider acceptance. But Bell said he has been surprised to see the singer devoting much of his time to the cause.
"He shows up at a gas station," Bell said, glancing at the crowd surrounding the singer. "He believes in it 100 percent."
The BioWillie brand, known as B20 is a blend of 80 percent petroleum diesel and 20 percent biodiesel, made from soybean oil, which Nelson stressed was produced by American farmers. Nelson organized Farm Aid two decades ago to draw attention to the plight of the family farm.
In addition to California, BioWillie is now sold in Texas, South Carolina and Georgia and is distributed through Oklahoma City-based Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores. The partnership Nelson formed with Bell and three others, Biodiesel Venture GP, LLC, was acquired in November by Texas-based Earth Biofuels.
Earth Biofuels is a publicly traded company OTCBB:EBOF
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